


i'm too good at leaving love but i don't wanna be

by fowles



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: ;), F/F, and a reporter who just wants to share people's stories and help everyone, and shit happens, kara's human, who falls in love with do-good CEO lena
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-12-22
Packaged: 2018-11-05 00:40:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11002347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fowles/pseuds/fowles
Summary: When Lena hears she's being assigned a reporter to follow her around a week, she's understandably pissed. Having the reporter be Kara Danvers makes things a little easier.-----Lena!CEO meets human/reporter!Kara





	1. chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on fow-les.tumblr.com and yell at me about how shitty of a writer i am ;)

**Monday**

“Why am I doing this.” Lena mutters, her heels clicking against the tiles rhythmically as she strides down the hallway.

Her new assistant softly jogs next to her, trying to match her speed. “Well, your mother is making y-,” Jess says as if Lena was actually asking for her opinion.

“-I know why I’m doing it, Jess, I just don’t know why I’m doing it.” Her assistant looks utterly confused but Lena could really care less. Especially since they’re nearing her office where some obnoxious reporter will be following her around for a week.

With Lex stepping down as CEO, after the whole incident, the obvious choice would be for Lena to take the helm. But her mother had different plans. Dear Lillian thought that she was ‘too young’ and ‘drama prone’, and she needed a temporary testing period. To make sure she could ‘handle it’. Lena knows what it really means though. Lillian doesn’t think she is capable of being CEO of LuthorCorp so she’s giving her a business quarter to prove she’ll fuck it up before taking the company for herself. Mother was always bitter that the late Lionel Luthor would rather have his children run the company than his wife.

Her office door comes into view and she can barely make out a figure already sitting on her couch through the blurred glass door.

“I didn’t think visitors were allowed in my office unsupervised,” She says, smiling sardonically at her assistant. Jess pales a little and steps forward to fix it, but Lena stops her with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. I need to get use to the invasion of privacy at some point.”

Jess mumbles an apology before hurrying off to her desk, sitting down at her chair like the weight has just left her shoulders. Lena supposes it has, dealing with her has never been easy. Which is why she goes through assistants like shoes. They’re similar in a way - shoes and assistants: both worn out easily.

Lena pushes open the doors, entering her office with a flourish. The person –a woman- sitting on her couch shoots up. Lena is momentarily surprised at the girl in front of her. A girl who cannot be any older than her.

“Ms. Luthor! Nice to meet you, I’m Kara Danvers.” Kara strides forward, her arm outstretched and a slightly too wide grin on her face. Lena steps forward, shaking her hand and nodding in approval at the reporter’s firm grip. She takes a moment to analyze the girl in front of her. Professional attire (white skirt, blue sweater over a collared white shirt; formal but fashionable), an eager smile, and blonde hair slicked back into a ponytail. She’s pretty too, Lena notices, but that’s a thought best not to have.

“Pleasure, Ms. Danvers. I have to admit you’re not who I was expecting when I was told a reporter would be doing a feature on me.” Lena walks around her desk to drape her coat across her chair and sit down. She briefly glances at the post-it notes Jess has placed on her desk. Little reminders to call certain people and do certain things, both she has no interest in doing at the moment.

Kara cocks her head, her smile scrunching up a bit in a confused manner. Her image reminds Lena of a puppy and her smirk grows into a genuine smile for a second.

“Who were you picturing?” Kara asks.

Lena leans back in her chair. “Some short, bald, hefty man who would perv on me the entire week.”

“Speaking of someone in particular?”

Lena can think of someone specifically and she thanks Cat Grant for mercifully not sending over Snapper Carr. The man tried to contact her for comments on Lex and she would not want to deal with his badgering for an entire week.

Instead of answering Kara’s question, Lena just taps her nails on her desk. She really needs to start working on several documents if she’s going to prepare key business plans to be executed by the end of her first month.

“Why don’t we start with the questions then. I don’t mean to be rude, but I have a lot of tasks to do today so the sooner we finish today’s interview the better,” Lena states.

Kara adjusts her glasses nervously. “Actually I was just hoping to observe today. No questions.”

“Observe? What, sit on the couch and watch me type at my computer?”

The blonde shrugs. “Or any meetings you have. I’m flexible. I think it’s important for this article to show the authentic you. I want to write about the real Lena Luthor and I think by observing you first I can begin to get a grasp on you.”

Be careful what you wish for, Lena thinks bitterly. For all the geeky charm this girl oozes, she’s staring back at Lena’s critical eyes fiercely. It’s clear that Kara is determined to do the best with this article as she can.

“Is this your first article?” Lena asks, genuinely curious.

Kara blushes. “Yes.” She glances away for a second before looking at Lena anxiously. “Why is it totally obvious?”

“No.” Lena smiles. “More seasoned reporters tend to get lazy and fall back on the ‘Luthors are Destroying America’ angle. It’s nice to have someone whose passionate about the truth.”

Kara lets out a relieved smile that morphs into a proud grin. She shrugs humbly, but is clearly super pleased at this statement. The whole thing is very adorable and Lena quickly stomps down any feelings that circle the domain of thinking this girl is adorable. She has too much on her plate to get into situations like that, especially with a fucking journalist.

“Well,” Lena finally says after a brief moment of smiling at Kara in amusement. “Observe away then. I’m just going to get started on some proposals.”

She almost expects Kara to ask about the proposals, but the blonde just nods seriously and sits back down across the room at the couch. Lena watches for a moment as Kara pulls out a pencil and a pad of paper and very seriously writes down something. She’s desperate to know what it is she wrote, but before she can worry any more about Kara glances up at her and she snaps her gaze to her computer. Lena can feel a slight blush on the tip of her ears and she thanks herself for wearing her hair down today.

 

* * *

 

They spend most of the day like that. Lena working away and Kara sitting on the couch watching. For the first hour, Lena was hyper aware of the pretty blonde staring at her from across the room. But Kara barely moves or makes any noise and after a while Lena starts to forget she’s there.

There’s a moment where Lena is on the phone with the plant manager of a facility she owns in Pennsylvania. He’s on speaker and giving her flack about orders to downsize operational budgets when she hears a snort coming from Kara. She glances up to see the blonde waving her hand in apology as she covers a smile with her other hand. It’s only then that Lena realizes she’s been making faces at the speaker phone for most of the conversation, something she usually doesn’t have to be concerned about anyone seeing.

Lena smiles at the reporter and they kind of just stare at each other for a moment before the plant manager calls her name twice and she has to focus on the conversation again.

At the end of the day, when Lena has shut down her computer and starts to pile up the documents to bring home, Kara just gets up, shakes her hand, thanks her for everything, and heads out.

Lena watches her go for a moment and wonders what this feeling low in her belly is.

 

* * *

 

**Tuesday**

  
The second day passes much like the first: hectic and a blur. She falls into a groove that helps her zone out from everything going on around her. There are times where she has to leave for meetings and Kara follows with an easy smile and bright demeanor. If her employees are confused about the cheery blonde woman following Lena around all day, they don’t show it.

The day passes like that and before she knows it a Styrofoam box is being slid over on her desk. Lena looks up to see Kara shrugging nonchalantly at her from across the desk.

“It’s seven.” She says like that’s an explanation for the mysterious box in front of her.

The blonde opens her own identical box to reveal what looks like orange chicken and rice with vegetables.

“There’s an amazing Chinese place like two blocks away,” Kara says, popping a piece of chicken in her mouth.

Lena quirks up an eyebrow. “You got me dinner, Ms. Danvers? Trying for something else?”

Kara chokes on her piece of chicken and Lena can’t help but laugh loudly at the blush quickly rising on the blonde’s cheeks.

While the girl is sputtering and desperately trying to swallow her food quickly to defend herself, Lena cuts in with more teasing. “Or were you just trying to butter up the subject so I spill all my dirty secrets to you?”

Kara shakes her head furiously and finally swallows. “No! No, that wasn’t at all, Ms. Luthor. You-I-,” she pauses upon taking in the brunette’s smirk. “You’re messing with me.”

She’s looking at Lena with these critical narrow eyes that the CEO can’t help but be charmed by. She looks like a suspicious twelve-year-old. “Yes. I am.”

Lena shakes her head in mirth and opens her own box of food. It’s General Tso’s, her favorite, a fact that Lena is at once suspicious about. Has the reporter been stalking her? Does she know that she gets this exact same meal every Tuesday from the same Chinese place that’s only two blocks from the office?

Kara must mistake her face for displeasure because she immediately starts apologizing. “I’m sorry do you hate this? Because I can get something else if you want. It’s just you’ve barely ate anything all day and I was getting dinner anyways- “

“Ms. Danvers, it’s fine. Perfect actually, I love this place.” Lena smiles at the flustered reporter and takes pleasure in the relief that exudes from her after her placation. There is something so open about this girl that Lena enjoys. There seems to be no secrets. No hidden agendas.

“You can call me Kara,” the blonde says, “If you want.” She takes a large bite of rice.

“I suppose it would be easier to be on a first name basis if we’re going to be around each other all week.”

They eat in silence for a second, both enjoying their respective meals. Lena chews thoughtfully on her chicken as she analyzes the blonde in front of her. She’s smiling softly to herself as her eyes take in the view from Lena’s office window over the brunette’s shoulder. Lena wonders how the girl can stay positive about seemingly everything when if the roles were reversed Lena would be bored of out of her mind watching some CEO do busy work all day.

The blonde never complains once though and even seems like she’s having fun.

“What have you been working on?” Kara asks, breaking Lena out of her thoughts.

Lena swallows. “A little bit of everything, really.” She wipes the corner of her mouth with a napkin, conscious of not smudging her lipstick. “It’s weird being in charge of every department when I’m so used to only being Head of R&D.”

Kara nods like she understands. “I didn’t even know I wanted to be a reporter until like two months ago.”

Lena pauses, her chopsticks half way to her mouth, and cocks her head in curiosity. “Really? You seem like a person who just knows what they want.”

Kara looks away for a second, embarrassed, before glancing back at Lena. “Not really. Me and self-identity don’t really come hand in hand.”

“I can’t relate. It seems I always knew who I was. It’s been shoved down my throat enough times.”

“And who’s that?”

Lena smiles dangerously. “A Luthor.”

Kara shakes her head, her gaze cutting through the brunette. “I don’t believe that’s all you are, Lena.”

“Well, it’s only the second day.”

She just shrugs. “I may not be good at figuring myself out, but I’m pretty good at figuring out other people. You’re a lot more than just a Luthor.”

Lena doesn’t reply. She wouldn’t know what to say. She doesn’t know at what point in her life she began to desperately crave someone saying those exact words to her. All Lena knows is she was waiting for that and that it came from this unsuspecting reporter in front of her who seems to have no clue the impact her words had on her.

She clears her throat, trying to mask the effect of Kara’s words. “That’s kind of you to say. I really do have to get back to work though. You can head out for the night if you wish.”

Kara seems to sense she’s getting the brush off and nods. She closes her half-full carryout box and grabs her purse.

As she is walking out of the office, Lena can’t help it. She calls out. “I’ll talk to Jess about setting up a meeting between us tomorrow.” Kara turns around, surprised, “To set up a real interview.”

Kara smiles and fiddles with her glasses, nodding pleasantly. “Of course. Goodnight, Lena.”

“Goodnight, Kara.”

* * *

 

**Wednesday**

Lena cannot fight this. She is completely enchanted right now.

Kara is sitting in the chair in front of her. Her phone is set to record on the desk and the blonde reaches out to check if it’s recording for the sixth time in the past five minutes. Her notepad is placed carefully in the reporter’s lap and she must have about three different types of pens in her shirt pocket.

“Ready?” Kara asks suddenly, as if Lena hasn’t been sitting there calmly the entire time.

Lena smiles and nods graciously.

Kara opens her notepad to her list of questions and fixes her glasses. “Would you say you are properly qualified to be CEO of LutherCorp with your limited experience of the business side of the company?”

The interim CEO’s eyebrows shoot up in pleasant surprise. “Not starting soft, I see.” The blonde doesn’t respond, just stares at her with an uncharacteristic fierceness. Or what Lena is starting to understand, entirely in character.

Lena plays with her pen as she thinks through her answer. “I do not believe I am unqualified by any means. I grew up with this business. I’ve seen the two different eras; with my father and his traditionalism and my brother’s riskier approach. I think I’m the perfect balance of the two and I plan to prove that to the shareholders during this quarter.”

Kara nods, smiling softly down at her notepad, writing down a note. “Where does your mother fit into this?”

“My mother has always preferred a more advisory role.” She wonders if Kara can see through her lie.

“So the rumors she is trying to buy out your shares of the company is false?”

“I believe many people like to spread rumors about the Luthors. People like to see family drama, no matter how fabricated it is.”

“Where would you like to see LuthorCorp go in the future?”

Lena’s PR department has been coaching her on questions like this since she became CEO. But in the moment, staring in Kara’s honest eyes, she just wants to be honest back.

“I want to do good.” Kara blinks, startled by this answer, but Lena barrels on, “I want to leave LuthorCorp knowing I made it better than how my brother left it.”

Kara stares at her for a second, taking in the answer. Lena smiles. “Not expecting that?”

“Not so bluntly, no.”

“If I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting it either.” Lena twists a ring on her finger, a nervous habit. “You’re good at this. Getting people to open up. It’s a useful skill as a reporter, I must admit.”

Kara beams. “Really? I mean-thank you.” Her smile drops as she adopts a more serious expression. “Moving on. Any exciting upcoming projects you’d be interested in talking about?”

* * *

 

 “Italian or Greek?”

Lena looks up to see Kara standing in front of her, wallet in hand and a smile on her face. She always seems to be smiling in some way.

“I take it we’re talking about food and not men?” Lena replies.

Kara scrunches up her nose. “Yeah, definitely talking about food.”

The brunette’s interest is piqued at that answer, but she lets it slide. Best not to pry into the girl who is interviewing her -and despite her mental denial, who is totally getting under her skins- love life.

She leans back in her chair and crosses her arms defiantly. “You don’t have to keep buying me dinner.”

“I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t eat if I didn’t.” Kara stares back, not giving any sign of backing down.

Lena sighs, knowing she lost, and stands. “At least let me pay.” She walks around the desk to stand in front of Kara and motions to grab the girl’s wallet.

“Nope.” Kara says with a cheeky grin, holding her wallet away from Lena’s grasp.

“Kara, I’m a billionaire and you’re an entry level reporter. Please let me pay for dinner.”

“Lena,” Kara replies with a teasing tone, “You forget this story is my big break. I’ll be making billions too soon.”

Lena narrows he eyes, but relents. She suddenly notices the close proximity of the blonde. The CEO’s eyes dip south and takes in the girl’s outfit. Every day Kara seems to come in with a different cute, business casual outfit. Today she’s wearing light colored pants and a denim collared shirt. Her glasses seem to match her eyes and she smells like vanilla and Lena just wants to be a little closer.

She leans in, invading the blondes personal space completely. “Italian.”

The reporter gulps, eyes flickering between Lena’s eyes. “Got it.” Turning on her heel, she walks out of the office, stumbling a little bit when she bumps into the corner of the door. “Sorry!”

Lena chuckles and shakes her head. What is she doing?

* * *

**Thursday**

“The show was trash, Kara.”

“It was amazing! The Real World changed television! Without it we would have not any of the reality television we have today.” Kara vehemently debates as if this topic is the most important thing to have ever been discussed.

“Exactly why it’s trash. The world never needed reality television.”

Kara’s face is so dramatically outraged that a loud laugh seems to escape Lena’s mouth all on its own. Her head hits the back of her office couch as she throws it back in glee, but she doesn’t even care. She’s giggling still when she notices Kara smiling gently at her from next to her on the couch as her laughter dies. “How did we start talking about this again?”

“Um, I think we were discussing LuthorCorps charity programs and it sort of snowballed from there.” Kara adjusts her glasses with a grin.

Lena doesn’t know at one point this week she started to become so use to Kara’s presence. Not just used to it but actively enjoying it. Better yet the blonde seems to have bribed her coffee order out of Jess and she came in this morning with a medium non-fat vanilla latte with no foam.

The Luthor part of Lena has warning bells going off in every direction, but the friendless girl inside her is just so happy at the acts of kindness that she’s telling the Luthor side to fuck off for once.

She thinks it might be best to veer back towards business for now. “How’s the article coming along?”

Kara wags her finger with a mischievous smile. “Don’t be trying to get any sneak peeks from me. You’ll read the article when we all do.”

Lena leans over a little bit, poking the girls side and smiling when the blonde twists away with a surprised gasp. “Nothing bad right, Ms. Danvers?”

The blonde looks at her with an earnest expression. “No, Lena, nothing bad.”

The moment feels more weighted than Lena can handle and she thanks whatever entity is up there when Jess enters the office and reminds her of a meeting starting in fifteen minutes.

* * *

 Dinner that night is Mexican and Kara is apparently a walking Yelp guide because she already knows of an exceptional place just three blocks over. Given how much food the small girl takes in; Lena shouldn’t be too surprised.

“How is it that you can inhale two burritos and still look like that?” Lena asks as she swallows a bite of her rice bowl.

Kara looks at her with a mouth completely stuffed with food. She looks so much like a human chipmunk that Lena’s eyebrows fly up in delight. “Look like what?”

“Like you run eight miles a day and can lift a small truck.”

Kara chuckles and shrugs. “I don’t know. I work out and have a high metabolism? I don’t think about it much.” She takes another huge bite of her burrito.  
“Well, color me green, cause I’m envious.”

“Why? You have an amazing figure, Lena.” There’s a beat of silence while they both process Kara’s words and the potential unprofessionalism of them. Kara’s face immediately heats up as it colors pink. “I mean-well, I’m-“

Lena places a gentle hand on the girl’s wrist, silencing her. “Thank you, Kara.”

They pause for a second as they just gaze into each other’s eyes and once again Lena questions what is it about this girl that causes so many confusing moments like this. If Lena knew that every day would contain a moment where they stare into each other’s eyes dramatically, she would have cancelled the interview and bought a cat.

This is why it’s probably for the best Lena won’t be seeing Kara again after tomorrow. The interview will be over and Kara will go off back to her perfect life and leave Lena alone again to rule her empire.

It’s for the best.

* * *

 

**Friday**

Lena looks up as Kara strides into the office with two coffees in hand. Her outfit of the day is a simple dress that clings tightly to her figure and Lena has to avert her eyes quickly to not stare at the outline of abs poking out.

“Vanilla Latte as per usual.” Kara says with a smile, setting down the coffee in front of Lena as she takes the seat across from her.

“You don’t have to do this.” Lena replies, reaching out to pick up the latte.

Kara shrugs. “After today I won’t be.” She seems a little sad at this fact, a feeling mirrored by the CEO.

Lena frowns. “Yeah, today is the last day…” She swallows thickly. “I must thank you, Kara, this week has been a lot more fun than I thought it was going to be.”

The blonde beams. “Same. I’ve been having a blast.”

“Now I know you’re just being polite. I doubt watching me work for the past week has been a ‘blast’.”

Kara shakes her head, her eyes wide. “No, it was! I think this article is going to be amazing. I was able to hear stories from a lot of different employees and their experiences. Plus, you’re not as boring as you think you are.”

Lena looks away as she prays her blush is not obvious to Kara. “You’re too kind.”

She really is too kind; Lena thinks as she glances back at Kara to see her smiling the same as ever. It’ll be weird not spending everyday with her and that thought alone makes Lena hope she never sees her again.

Kara rubs the back of her neck, eyes flickering around the room. She seems nervous which is not unusual, but Lena thought they had begun to become more comfortable with one another.

“Would you-,” Kara pauses for a second, glancing at Lena before looking away just as quickly. “Would you want to go to game night at my sister’s house sometime with me?”

Game night?

“Game night?”

Kara blushes. “I know it’s not super cool anything, but it’s really fun and my friends are great. It’s usually odd numbers though and if you come we can finally play charades!”

The idea that this incredible, bright, genuine person wants to hang out with Lena is a concept that she can’t even begin to process. The CEO was starting to accept that this girl was going to be a blimp in her life; a reminder that there were people out there that who were good and kind and who didn’t belong in the same world as a Luthor.

Kara seems to take her silence as a rejection because she frowns in disappointment and says, “Sorry, this is totally unprofessional, right? Like you probably have so many other things to do this weekend than hang with an entry level reporter and her nerdy-.”

“Yes!” Lena blurts out. “I’d love to come.”

The reporter’s mouth falls a little bit in surprise before a delighted grin blooms. “Fantastic! I’ll text you later with all the information.”

Lena doesn’t trust herself with words at the moment so she just nods and hands over her phone for the blonde to type in her information. She hears a buzz as the text Kara just sent herself goes through to her own phone.

“Perfect,” Kara murmurs, looking at her phone briefly before pocketing it.

The brunette makes a show of saving Kara’s number to give herself an excuse not to stare at the reporter with a dazed expression.

* * *

 

They spend the rest of day joking around and chatting idly as Lena works through her day’s tasks. More often than not Lena becomes distracted by a witty comment or joke from the blonde and the CEO scolds her for diverting her attention (as if she cares in the slightest).

At 6:30 exactly, Jess knocks on the door and enters with two bags of carryout. Kara sharply looks over at Lena who stares back innocently.

“Seriously?” Kara says.

Jess drops the two bags off on the desk and exits the room, but not before casting a curious expression at the two women in the office. Lena’s sure she’s shocked at someone talking to her in any way that isn’t business professional. It’s not like she has any friends who routinely come to the office to visit.

Lena smiles wickedly and holds one of the bags out to the reporter, who glances at it in distrust. “It’s only fair that I pay for the last night, Kara.”

Kara gets up from the couch and walks over to where Lena sits at her desk. She reaches out and opens the bag, peeking in and when she sees the contents her face lights up. “Potstickers! How did you know I love potstickers?”

“We were both there when you engulfed twelve on Tuesday,” She teases.

The blonde chuckles and pops a potsticker in her mouth, smiling cheesily, “No shame.”

Lena leans back in her chair, watching the content way Kara goes through her food. She idly picks at her own meal of General Tso’s chicken (she knows it’s the second time this week, but she’s dramatic and likes the idea of a full circle, okay?) as she thinks about the day coming to an end. Not even the idea of seeing Kara again soon can ease her bitterness at the week coming to a close.

They eat in silence. Both unwilling to address the somber mood nor say anything to fix it.

Kara is the first to break. “My boss, Snapper, is going to be editing the piece tonight and it’ll be in the Sunday morning paper.”

“Sunday news? I didn’t know I was so important.”

“You’re definitely important, Lena.” Kara says with the utmost seriousness.

“You are too, Kara.”

And for the last time this week, they share a smile and a look and a feeling that this isn’t truly the end.

* * *

 

**Sunday**

Lena hesitates, her finger over the curser. The article is out. Kara’s article is out. And Lena is terrified to open it.

It’s not that she thinks it might be mean. There is no way a person like Kara Danvers would be nice to her face and then write a scathing article behind her back. It’s the possibility of her kind words that make Lena so petrified to open it.

She’ll be the first to say being a Luthor is never easy and having the press look unkindly on her family is only one of the reasons why. Kara’s article might be the first pleasant thing that a publication has ever written about a Luthor.

Don’t be a pussy, Lena. She finally tells herself before clicking the article:

_"[...]There are many things about Lena Luthor that surprised me. Not the very least is her enormous heart and her desire to do genuine good in this world. It would be so easy for her to fall into the habits of most billionaires; to be unkind and selfish. However, Ms. Luthor consistently surpasses herself as she navigates the business world. She regularly donates to various charities, hosts events for different organizations, she routinely calls every employee by their first name no matter the status, and she is painfully apologetic to her receptionist when she stays late at the office._  
_She walks around with a purpose that exudes a natural confidence and terrifies most, but when you sit down with her in her office she is nothing if not polite. She believes in the company and in herself and nothing is going to stop her from succeeding in her goals. When asked about her inexperience as a CEO she replies with a smirk, “I do not believe I am unqualified by any means. I grew up with this business. I’ve seen the two different eras; with my father and his traditionalism and my brother’s riskier approach. I think I’m the perfect balance of the two and I plan to prove that to the shareholders during this quarter.”_

_[…] “’She’s brilliant, of course, but she’s also incredibly kind,’ says Jared Hart of the IT department. ‘Just since she started she has already set up a college fund for every employee’s child in the corporation. It’s insanely generous.”_  
_There is no doubt in not only my own opinion, but everyone that has the pleasure of working with Ms. Luthor, that she has truest intentions in store for the LutherCorp company. She gives the impression that she woke up deciding to do good and every action thus far has been in support of that. It is a beautiful process to watch._

_[…] If there is one thing I know after leaving Ms. Luthor after our week together is this: do not underestimate her. That will be your first mistake."_

Lena is mercifully glad to have read this in the solace of her own apartment instead of her office because the wetness currently gracing her cheeks is mortifying.

Her phone buzzes from next to her and she reaches over to grab at it and look at the screen.

In bright lights a text from Kara reads:

_See you at Game night! BRING YOUR A GAME!!!!!!_


	2. chapter two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> crunched this out today after work because i've already taken long enough. hope you enjoy!!

Lena Luthor does not get nervous. That particular feeling was trained out of her fairly early in her life.

Like when she was eight and won the science fair. Afterwards, her teacher asked if she wanted to give a speech to the class explaining her project and how she did it. Nervous, she quietly refused and ran back to her driver who was waiting to take her home. Later that night at dinner, Lionel spent two hours berating her for rejecting the opportunity to practice her public speaking. He made her go back to school the next day and apologize to her teacher and ask if she could make a speech after all.

That was also the day she learned she couldn’t trust her driver, Theo. From that point on, she stopped telling him about her day when he asked.

After that she never turned down the opportunity to improve at _something_. And after a while, Lena got better about controlling her nerves until they barely appeared at all.

Until now.

Lena has been pacing the hallway for six minutes already and she’s still ten minutes early. Kara’s apartment building seems quaint and cozy and it reminds her of something she would see on a sitcom about twenty-something New Yorkers trying to ‘find their way’.

Her hand is gripping a bottle of expensive (but not too expensive; she doesn’t want to seem pretentious) wine and she holds on to it for dear life because her hands are a little clammy and she’s afraid she’ll drop it. Lena doesn’t know what about this is making her so petrified. It’s either the possibility of seeing Kara in a friendly setting or the fact she is about to be thrown into a group of strangers who are already established friends.

Lena’s had friends in the past. She’s had lab partners who would invite her to parties. Her team when she was the Director of Research at the LuthorCorp China branch was particularly close knit. And she has Jack. But she’s never had a group of friends who were not all work colleagues or grew up in the wealthy social circle of Metropolis and thereby friends out of habit.

The thought of meeting the people who Kara Danvers deem to allow in her life is terrifying.

“Miss, are you okay?” A warm voice breaks Lena out of her thoughts.

She slowly turns around to see a tall, smiling man staring down at her with a look of concern. He is attractive with kind eyes and he looks as if he is heading straight to Kara’s apartment door.

Lena’s eyes widen and only her Luthor training lets her quickly school her expression fast enough that maybe he wouldn’t notice her panic.

“Oh! Sorry, I’m just looking for a friend’s apartment and I forgot the number.” She lies.

He tilts his head for a second before just smiling wider and says, “You wouldn’t happen to be here for Kara Danvers, would you?”

Lena feigns a relieved grin. “Yes, actually. Are you a friend?”

The man nods and holds out a hand for her to shake. “James Olsen, pleasure.”

She takes it with a practiced firm grip and her CEO smile. “Lena Luthor.” 

It says a lot about the man that his only reaction is a quirked eyebrow and an easy smile. He reminds her of Kara in that aspect and she likes him immediately.

James nods his head towards the door. “Shall we?”

“Lead the way,” Lena says, waving her hand in front of her.

He knocks on the door, shooting another smile over his shoulder at Lena who prefers to stand behind him.

The door opens almost immediately and Lena can barely make out Kara’s beam from around James.

The blonde’s expression drops a little bit upon seeing only James, but her grin is back just as swiftly.

“James! Hi!” She leans up to kiss him on the cheek and Lena’s stomach twists just a little. So this must be her boyfriend, of course. That’s why he reminded her so much of Kara, because they’re dating.

“Kara,” James starts, smirking a little, “I found a lost deer in the hallway.”

Lena’s a little indignant at that, but it is the lie she told so she can only blame herself. Kara’s head peaks out from in front of James’s broad figure and she finally spots Lena. Her eyes grow wide and she immediately lights up.

“Lena! Oh my god, you made it!” Kara squeals practically pushing James out of the way so she can grab Lena’s arm in excitement.

“Hi,” Lena chuckles a little, flattered by the reaction to her arrival. “I brought some wine. Nothing fancy, but it’ll do the trick.” She cringes, hoping her comment doesn’t imply apathy towards being here.

Kara adopts a scolding expression. “You didn’t have to do that, Lena. Alex always brings enough booze to take out an army.” At Lena’s curious expression she continues, “Oh! Sorry, Alex is my sister. Come in and meet her!”

She reaches out and laces her fingers around Lena’s wrist, giving a soft tug and pulling the brunette into the apartment. Lena gaze drops to linger on the gentle grip of Kara’s fingers on her skin. Not for the first time, Kara wonders what kind of life Kara must have lived to be able to touch so freely?  

Kara’s apartment is open and bright and perfectly matches the girl it belongs to. The decorations are all brightly color schemed and Lena feels at home straightaway.

Well, until she spots the other three occupants in the room.

A goofy looking boy is who she sees first as he jumps off of the couch and bounces over to her. He’s a little on the shorter side, but he’s sweet looking and Lena can’t help but find him cute in a way.

“Hi, new person! Winn Schott, IT genius and definitely single.” He says with a grin and a wave, coming to stand next to her.

Kara elbows him in the side with a glare as he lets out a yelp. “What was that for?” He whines.

“You know what.” She hisses back, glancing over at Lena with an apologetic smile.

Winn rolls his eyes and looks at Lena with an offended expression. She laughs and touches Kara’s forearm to comfort her.

“It’s fine, Kara, not the first time a man has fawned over me.” Lena ends it with an exaggerated wink to Winn, just to mess with him, and misses the slight frown Kara adopts at it.

Kara finally drops her hand from holding onto Lena’s wrist and it’s the cold lack that turns her attention to the blonde. Her face is a little apprehensive, but mostly excited as she nods her head to across the room.

“That’s my sister, Alex, and her girlfriend, Maggie.”

Lena turns her head to look at the tall brunette in the corner of the apartment. Alex – her _sister_ – can be summed up in the following: loves black, closed off, glaring straight at her.

She wonders if it’s the Luthor background or if she accidentally punched a dog on her way in that has Alex staring at her with such calculatingly cold eyes.

Nevertheless, Lena Luthor is nothing if not polite. She has dealt with people worse before (hell even her own mother is lukewarm towards her at best), she’s got this.

“Hi, Lena Luthor, your sister is a fantastic reporter.” Lena says, crossing the room with a smile and holding her hand out for the woman.

Alex takes it with a firm ( _very_ firm) grip and her frown deepens as she glances past Lena’s shoulder.

A soft, “You read it?” comes from behind her. Lena turns to find Kara flushed and smiling from ear to ear.

“Of course! It was beautifully written. People will think I paid you to say such nice things,” Lena replies.

Kara beams in pride, shuffling around and hitting Winn on the arm repeatedly. ( _“ow, geezus, Kara kill it with the weights”)._

Lena turns to face Alex again and notices that she’s staring at Kara with narrowed eyes. She decides maybe she’ll have better luck with the girlfriend and turns to the shorter girl next to Alex.

She sticks out her hand to shake. “Hi, pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Maggie replies with a knowing smirk. Knowing _what_ she doesn’t know.

Lena takes a second to flicker her gaze between the two girlfriends. They both seem very similar to each other in the same ‘I don’t give a fuck about you’ vibe.

“So,” she starts, turning to Kara who appears to be in a staring contest with her sister. The girl’s eyes snap to Lena as soon as she speaks, “What games do you have in store?”

 

* * *

“You fudging jerk!” Winn shouts in anger as James continues to look at him with a confused expression. “It’s so obvious!”

 Lena laughs and for a second she swears James winks at her. They’re playing Charades now after a heated Monopoly game. She won, of course, and for a second she thought Kara was going to punch her when she finally bankrupted the blonde. Who knew the usually kind girl is also aggressively competitive. 

“They always do this,” Kara whispers in her ear from next to her on the couch, her eyes glued to James and Winn in amusement. She has calmed down significantly after the Monopoly game and is now happily watching James mess with Winn. Her blonde hair is centimeters from Lena’s face and she can’t help but breathe in vanilla and black out for a moment.

“Umm,” James says, a finger tapping at his chin, “Gladiator?”

“No!” Winn screams, stopping his motions of clearly rocking a baby. “It’s Bye Bye Baby!” He throws a nearby pillow at James in anger who just catches it laughing. Winn slumps down on the couch, pouting and refusing to look at anyone while everyone chuckles.

Kara’s eyes are crinkled as she giggles and she looks especially cute today in her casual clothes. Lena tears her eyes away as she feels Alex’s glare from across the room.

“You’re up, Luthor,” Alex says, holding out the hat full of pieces of paper with pop culture references Lena is confident she won’t be familiar with.

Lena sighs, wiping her hands on her black skirt and getting off of the couch. She ruffles through the hat and pulls out a white slip, looking at the words.

‘ _Forrest Gump’_.

Oh thank god or whoever is up there. Lena has seen the movie once when she was a kid and her nanny was watching it on VHS. The plot is a little fuzzy but she definitely remembers the running.

She looks to her game partner, Kara, and holds up two fingers.

“Two words.” Kara says quickly, an excited gleam to her eyes.

She gives a thumbs up and then mimes a movie projector rolling.

“Movie!”

Another thumbs up. Lena grimaces for a quick second, knowing she’s about to look super dorky in front of these people, before fake running in place.

“Marathon man?”

Lena shakes her head and tries to reenact braces falling off her legs as she continues running in place.

“Forrest Gump!”

“Yes!” Lena shouts, grinning at Kara who jumps off the couch and high fives her. The whole thing lasted about six seconds and it’s a record of the night by far. Mostly because James loves messing with a competitive Winn and Maggie and Alex could care less, but Lena doesn’t care. She just _killed_ it and Kara is looking at her with such a happy expression that Lena would embarrassingly fake run in front of everyone all over again just to receive that look twice.

Kara arrogantly looks over at Alex with a smirk. “Crushed it, Alex, _beat that._ ”

Alex rolls her eyes. “Oh wow, whatever am I going to do? I lost at _Charades_.” Her voice is dripping in sarcasm, but her eyes are so affectionate while staring at her little sister. Lena looks around the room and notices everyone’s tender gaze as they look at Kara. It seems she isn’t alone in the belief that this girl is special.

Lena sits back down on the couch and takes a swig of her wine as she watches Kara stick out her tongue at her sister and turn back to her. The blonde flops down on the couch and brightly smiles at Lena, her body brushing against her side as she gets comfortable.

“We’re a good team. You’re now my permanent game night partner.” Kara says.

Lena nods solemnly. “A honor I do not take lightly,” She responds with faux seriousness (well, faux-faux serious, because at Kara’s words Lena felt a swell of pride that filled her body with a warmth she hasn’t felt before).

The CEO sits back on the couch after sharing another smile with Kara. She swirls her wine in her glass as her attention diverts to Maggie who is now preparing to start her turn with Alex. Alex’s gaze at her girlfriend is just as soft as with her little sister and Lena is starting to realize that this girl may just be all bark. Actually, she thinks with a tilt of her head, she’s definitely bite just not with her loved ones.

Lena turns her head and notices James sneak a peek at Kara out of the corner of his eyes and she feels herself frowning. Now that she thinks about it, why isn’t Kara’s Game Night partner her boyfriend?

She sneaks a look at Kara as well. The blonde’s eyebrows are furrowed as she anxiously watches Alex guess, clearly hoping they don’t beat their score. Lena smirks and takes another sip of her wine. Kara really is just that nice of a person that she would choose to be partners with the person she invited instead of her own boyfriend.

It’s small gestures like this that make the blonde stand out so much. Not many people would buy dinner for a CEO or invite a lonely someone to a night with their friends. Lena promises herself in that moment to be thankful of this person who has entered her life with such sincerity and kindness. She can’t let a friend like this go.

“Ha!” Kara lets out suddenly causing Lena to jump and divert her eyes from the blonde quickly.

Maggie and Alex are glaring at Kara as she gets up off the couch and pumps her fist in the air. “Twenty-two seconds! You are officially in _last place_ , how does it feel Danvers?”

Alex narrows her eyes and downs her glass of whisky. “Overly competitive Kara is here. Game night is officially over.” She gets up off the couch and starts to make her way over to where her and Maggie’s leather jackets are hung up.

Winn and James nod and start to get up as well. Kara throws her hands in the air in disbelief.

“What? But we’re just getting good!”

“You called me, Danvers, Kara.” Alex says, handing Maggie her jacket and slipping into her own.

Kara mouths open like she’s going to argue, but closes it after beat. She sighs. “Ok, you’re right.” She blushes a little bit and glances over at Lena. “Sorry, I can get overzealous when it comes to games.”

“Overzealous? Lena do you want to see the scar on my leg after I beat her at basketball when she was eight.” Which Lena totally does want to see just for proof that someone could harm the woman who earlier stated she could kill someone with one punch. 

Kara flushes. “I’ve apologized a hundred times for that!”

Alex laughs warmly (Lena will admit she was shocked at this) and hugs her sister goodbye. While her arms are wrapped around Kara, Lena watches as she whispers something in the blonde’s ear, her eyes locked onto Lena’s. Kara stiffens and pushes Alex away with a blush, her eyes peeking over at the CEO quickly before making her way to Winn and James.

“Bye, Kara. Breakfast tomorrow still, right?” James says, leaning down to hug her.

“Yes! On me!” She replies, kissing his cheek. They break apart with a smile, looking into each other’s eyes. They don’t kiss on the lips and Lena doesn’t want to dwell on why that relieves her so much.

James turns to Lena and holds out his hand. “It was a pleasure, Lena. I have high hopes for LutherCorp’s future after seeing your Monopoly skills.”

Lena laughs and can’t help but be charmed by the taller man. Kara deserves to be with someone this nice. “It was great meeting you, James. And you too Winn.”

Winn grins and holds out his fist for a bump. She does it somewhat clumsily and winces at his loud laugh. “Awesome meeting you, Lena. Don’t forget to email me those new tech specs! My geek friends are going to be so jealous.”

“If you really want to make them jealous, I can take you for a tour in the R&D department. We’re working on this new energy conservation system that would hopefully-”

“Nope,” Kara butts in, pushing Winn away from Lena. “We are not getting into another discussion that no one can understand but you guys.”

Winn rolls her eyes at the blonde, but relents to getting pushed towards the door. “Email me!”

Lena gives a final wave to everyone, her smile not dimming at the curt nod she receives from Alex and Maggie as they saunter out of the entryway.

When Kara finally ushers everyone out, the door closes to the silent apartment. Kara turns around, her hands linked behind her, as she rocks on her heels. She smiles somewhat nervously at Lena.

Kara opens her mouth and in that moment Lena is terrified about what might come out.

“I’ll help you clean!” She blurts out. Kara closes her mouth with a frown, her eyebrows raised at Lena’s outburst.

The nervous energy built up in Lena causes her to turn stiffly and start picking up glasses. Refusing to look at Kara, she brings them to the sink and places them in gently. The cold water from the faucet calms down her hot hands as she starts to wash the wine glasses.

After a second, Lena sees Kara begin to walk over. The blonde picks up a clean washcloth and leans against the counter next to Lena. She holds out a hand for the glass Lena has just finished washing. Kara’s smile is indulgent and her eyes peer into Lena’s like she knows all her thoughts and she understands and is okay with them all.

“I’ll dry,” Kara say lightly.

Lena hands over the glass as her spare hand grips the counter. She’s being so weird right now and she doesn’t know why she’s so nervous to be around this reporter. Kara is kind and outgoing. She’s fun to be around and her presence is _easy_ ; so why is Lena so terrified in this moment?

Kara’s face turns away as she begins drying the white wine glass. Lena takes this moment to begin washing another, while actually analyzing the girl. She’s pretty, one of the prettiest girls Lena has ever seen, but there’s more to her than that. Kara is tender and sympathetic, compassionate and good natured.

If she’s being honest, Lena needs a thesaurus in front of her to even begin to describe Kara Danvers accurately.

Kara places the dry glass down and turns to Lena to pick up another one. Their eyes lock as Kara catches her staring, rather intently, and raises a curious eyebrow.

“What?” She asks, fiddling with her glasses.

Lena fumbles as she tries to think of an excuse as to why she just spent maybe fifty seconds staring at her friend. Her gaze flickers across the blonde’s face until she spots something.

“I was just wondering where you got your scar.” Lena pronounces, proud of her quick thinking.

Kara makes a face and Lena immediately takes back her pride as she now hates herself for causing this expression on the girl.

“Sorry,” Lena tries to say, “You don’t have to explain anything, it was an insensitive question.”

“No, it’s fine.” Lena watches her fingers twist the rag between them and she looks back up at Kara in concern. “I got it when I was seven. It was a car accident. Super cliché, I know, I hate it. I survived with a head injury, but, my parents didn’t.”

She says it in a rush of words and so casually that Lena has to blink before it sinks in.

“Oh.” Lena says and begins washing a glass again. She struggles for something to say, glancing back at Kara who is looking at her with curious eyes. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Kara smiles, a little lopsided. “Shouldn’t you be saying you’re sorry for my loss?”

Lena shrugs. “You said you didn’t like clichés.”

Kara laughs and hits her with the dry rag. The blonde peeks at Lena out of the corner of her eyes and there’s a touch of relief in them that makes Lena feel better about mentioning her scar. Like she maybe made up for it a bit. Lena hands her a new, wet glass and Kara takes it. Her fingers brush lightly against Lena’s and her breath hitches.

The moment is over just as quickly as Lena retracts her hand and Kara turns so she’s focusing on her work.

“What were they like?” Lena asks after a moment, hoping it’s okay to ask.

Kara softly smiles, tight lipped but fond. “I don’t remember everything, but from I do remember they were very warm. They were both scientists so I assume they were smart and I can remember them reading science fiction to me for bed time. Stories of aliens and other planets and different lives. I had a really happy childhood, I think.”

“I’m glad,” Lena murmurs genuinely.

Lena washes the last glass and hands it to Kara whose staring at her again with an expression Lena can’t read.

“I always joke about it with Winn, but I really do like hearing you two talk about science stuff. It reminds me of them, in a way.” Kara states, her eyes earnest as they stare into Lena’s.

Lena nods weakly at this. What else could she say? There aren’t words to describe the feeling that a piece of Lena, something that makes so much of her, reminds Kara of her parents. It’s an intimidating proclamation that Lena could so quickly become this for Kara.

“I want you to know,” Kara starts. She hesitates before barreling on, “That I’m really glad I met you this week.”

“Why?” Lena winces, knowing how this sounds. It sounds clingy and insecure and she knows this, but she genuinely just doesn’t understand how someone like Kara could be glad to have met Lena Luthor.

Kara lets out a huff of laughter in disbelief. “What do you mean why? Do you really not know how amazing you are?”

“That would be horribly egotistical if I did.” Lena says with a smirk.

Kara just shakes her head, looking disappointed and uncharacteristically serious. “Don’t do that, Lena.”

“Do what?”

“Don’t deflect because you’re uncomfortable.”  Her expression is solemn and Lena feels guilty for several reasons. The most for assuming that just because Kara is bright and happy that she doesn’t also have a serious and darker side of her as well. Not everyone is like her; who has let loss build a vault around her that no one can enter.   

Lena nods. “You’re right. I’m incredibly uncomfortable.” She smiles at Kara who just rolls her eyes and shoves her gently, like she’s holding back her true strength (which she likely is, Lena has seen her biceps).

And while there is a huge part of her that just wants to stay, Lena knows it’s getting late and she has work tomorrow. So she rinses her hands of the dish soap and dries them in companionable silence with Kara who just stands closely, leaning against the counter and surveying her process.

“I should get going,” Lena says.

Kara nods and crosses the room to gather Lena’s coat for her, despite the protests that slip out. Lena takes her pea coat with a thank you and slips it on.

The blonde walks Lena to her door. “Do you want me to get you a cab?” She offers and Lena has to chuckle because really?

“I texted my driver already when everyone was leaving. He’s downstairs waiting.” Lena replies with a teasing, but softhearted grin.

Kara holds her hands up in surrender. “Oh sorry, forgot I was talking to a millionaire.”

Lena almost corrects her with a ‘ _billionaire’ **,**_ but there’s no point in being grandiose. She just raises her shoulders in a cocky way and watches Kara lean her head back in a loud laugh.  The sound fills Lena up and for a moment she regrets her snap decision to leave; her driver could wait a little more.

Kara’s laugh dies down and she stares at Lena for a moment. “I had a good time tonight.”

Lena smiles, thin lipped, but no more lacking in the warmth she’s feeling. “Me too, Kara, we’ll do it again soon.”

“I’d like that.” Kara says lowly, her eyes dipping south.

Kara rocks on her heels for a moment and before Lena could even begin to feel confused, the blonde is surging forward and pressing her lips to Lena’s.

The kiss is insistent at first as if Kara had been waiting for this her entire life and is just now getting the taste she so desperately craved. The blonde’s fingers reach up to tangle themselves in Lena’s hair as the kiss transitions into a soft and tender brush of their lips.

Lena stands still.

She feels Kara’s lips and she’s _enjoying_ it, of course, she is. But she’s so painfully confused that her brain has not yet connected with her body to begin to return the kiss.

And after a second, Kara realizes that Lena hasn’t kissed her back in the entire minute and the blonde stiffens. With a tiny pop, Kara extracts herself from Lena’s lips and pulls back. Her face is hurt and embarrassed and confused and Lena wants to say something –anything- to comfort her but she physically cannot move right now in her shock.

“Wha..” Is the only thing that Lena can say and it’s probably the worst that could have come out of her mouth (besides maybe vomit, which Lena is surprised she hasn’t already).

Kara’s face transforms from hurt and confused to guilty and horrified. “Oh my god. _Oh my god_ , I totally misread all of this didn’t I?”

Lena still is struggling with her words so her mouth opens and closes like the idiot she is.

Kara covers her head with her hands in mortification and she drags them down her face. “I am so sorry, I thought this was a date, and I thought you knew it was a date. I mean we’ve been having these dramatic moments of just staring into each other’s eyes that I thought meant you were into me. And I am so sorry, Lena, please say something.”

“I thought you were dating James?” Lena stutters out. And really, Lena, of all the things you could say?

Kara lifts her eyes up in surprise, because she’s probably thinking the same thing. “James? No, no. I mean at one point we tried, but it just wasn’t working out.”

“You’re single.” Kara nods, watching her like Lena is going to pass out at any moment and she might because Kara Danvers thought this night was a date and just fucking kissed her. “And you want to date me.”

The blonde rubs her neck, anxious and restless, and nods.

“I-” She’s about to say, but Kara cuts her off.

“Look,” Kara holds up her hands, stopping Lena, “You don’t have to say anything right now. It’s late and this came out of nowhere for you, so just go home and think about it okay? After sleeping off this very embarrassing moment for me, I’ll text you tomorrow and we can talk it out?”

The smile she is giving Lena is so genuine and nice that Lena almost wants to just say ‘fuck it’ and pull her in close for round two. But there are things that are bigger than Lena that she has to consider. There’s the company and Lex and being close to someone when the possibility of that makes Lena feel she’s standing on the edge of a cliff.  

So instead of saying everything that’s been in her heart since she met Kara, Lena just gives a final nod and grabs her purse from the floor where it fell in the confusion.

With a final glance at Kara, who’s smiling the same as ever and watching Lena go, the CEO closes the apartment door and strides down the hallway.

 

* * *

 

When Lena gets back to her apartment (which is cold and designed around minimalism and basically just sucks and is the antithesis of Kara’s lovely studio) she can barely stand. All she wants to do is flop onto her giant king size bed and sleep until she forgets about how much of an idiot she is for not kissing Kara Danvers back.

Knowing her skin and teeth will thank her tomorrow, she trudges through her night routine at snail’s pace. As she’s brushing her teeth, Lena stares at her lips in the mirror and thinks about how just forty minutes ago they were pressed against Kara’s.

The girl who she only met _a week_ ago and is already causing her normal life to be turned upside down. The girl who seemed to have flown into her existence just to sprinkle it with kindness and friendship and possibly so much more. The girl who understands Lena after only a short amount of time and was able to give her space to think the kiss through because she knew she was freaking about it.

And didn’t she promise herself she wasn’t going to let a person like Kara leave her life? So why is she here at her apartment acknowledging this and not at Kara’s talking this out?

She hears her phone ring from inside her purse and Lena quickly sets down her toothbrush to rush to get it.

Picking it up without answering, she speaks, “Hello? Kara?”

“Kara?” A familiar voice echoes through the speaker, “Who the hell is Kara?”

Lena sighs and sits down on her bed, an affectionate smirk gracing her lips. “Jack. Sorry, I answered without thinking.”

His voice is amused and slightly smug, as it normally is, “Whatever the excuse as to who Kara is, I don’t want to hear it. I’m calling to say I’ll be in town tomorrow and then I can interrogate you face to face as to who is this mysterious person who is causing you to answer the phone like a soap opera star.”

Lena leans back so she’s laying down on the bed and wonders when her life got so dramatic that Jack is accusing _her_ of being the soap opera star.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the line about lena needed a thesaurus to explain Kara Danvers is actually about me literally needing a thesaurus for different variations of 'soft' and 'kind'. 
> 
> hope you enjoyed this chapter! I had no clue the entirety would take place at game night, but there was a lot to write about. i'm starting to get more of a feel with the characters and how i want to portray them so that is always exciting. 
> 
> as always please feel free to reach out to me on fow-les.tumblr.com my blog is shit but i'm kinda funny sometimes. 
> 
> have a great one! 
> 
> (also song rec: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaenB-_crmE)


	3. chapter three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiya! It's a me, sorry I've been AWOL with this story. I want to say my life has been super busy, but I'm actually just lazy and writing is very hard. I've also been working on some professional stuff for a screenplay portfolio so any time I write fanfic I feel a little guilty. regardless, I hope you enjoy.

Lena woke up to sound of coffee grinding. 

Through her bleary confusion she squints her eyes and glances at her alarm clock to see it is 8:00 am. Crawling out of bed, she angrily grabs her robe and makes her way into the kitchen. 

“What the fuck?” She says, entering the kitchen and seeing Jack scooping freshly ground coffee beans into her coffee machine. “I have a Keurig,” she finishes, a little lamely. 

“Keurig’s are shit compared to this. Just wait, I got them from Costa Rica last week and they’ve changed my life.” He replies, turning on the machine and facing her. He’s dressed in a form fitting navy suit that matches his complexion perfectly. His beard is freshly trimmed and a wave of affection hits her so suddenly that despite the rude awakening she rushes over to hug him. 

“I’ve missed you and all your pretentious quirks.” Her voice is a little muffled through the cloth of his suit but he laughs anyways. 

“As if you’re not just as pretentious, is that the original copy of Almond Blossom?” Lena glances to look at the painting behind her and shrugs. 

“I had to buy it from the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, cost more than this apartment, but worth it.” 

Jack shakes his head and looks down at her fondly. The smell of coffee dripping distracts them and Lena breathes it in deeply, hating to admit to Jack that he was right: the scent is intoxicating. 

As Jack pulls out two mugs, Lena walks over to her kitchen counter and sits down on one of the bar stools. 

“So why are you here so early?” She asks, accepting the freshly poured mug that Jack slides over to her. 

“When has 8 am been early for us? Are you slipping as a CEO?” 

“It was a long night last night,” Lena murmurs, taking a sip of her coffee and staring at it in amazement, “This is fantastic.”

“Told you, but I am so glad you brought it up first. What the hell was with that phone call last night?” Jack says, peering at her from the rim of his mug. 

Lena took one look at his teasing expression and scowls. “It was nothing.” 

Jack groans. “Are we going to pretend we’re not best friends? Do I really have to go through the effort to strip down your walls? Like you said, Lena, it’s early and I would really just like to get the scoop sooner rather than later.” He leans against the counter, expectant and patient. 

Lena frowns, she knows that Jack won’t give up until he knows everything, but that doesn’t mean she is willing to talk about it. She hasn’t even had the chance to debate about it internally for hours herself. 

Upon seeing Jack’s expression, she sighs, “Her name is Kara.” 

“Kara? Kara Danvers?” 

Lena looks up in shock. “How do you know her?”

“I don’t,” Jack replies, smirking, “But I have a google alert on you and just yesterday I read a fantastic CatCo article that sung your praises and what do you know, it was written by a Kara Danvers. You’re fucking the reporter.” 

“I-I am not!” Lena exclaims, blushing a dark red. 

Jack laughs, loud and deep. “I’m joking, but look at you. Smitten are we?” 

Lena was quiet, fidgeting with the handle of the mug. Jack grows quiet, looking at her with serious eyes. 

“Oh, boy, you are, aren’t you? Lillian is going to have a fit.” 

Lena’s eyes snap up to meet his. There is concern behind them and a little bit of hurt. It’s been ages since they dated, but the pain of a first love is always there. 

“She could never know,” Lena states firmly, before clumsily explaining, “I mean, I don’t even know if I’m going to do anything. But...” 

“What?”

“She kissed me. Last night. I was at a game night with her and her friends and she kissed me goodbye. She thought it was a date.” 

Jack chuckles, “Still just as oblivious.” He pokes her cheek at her blush. “And adorable.” 

She swats his hand away with a weak glare. Before he can say anything else her phone buzzes and she glances at it in growing horror. Lena peeks at Jack who is staring at her phone in interest. He meets her stare and for a second they square off before both lunging for the device.   
Lena gets there first, but Jack yanks it out of her hand and she yelps in outrage. “Jack!”

“It’s from Kara Danvers (CatCo Reporter),” he says, “Do you really have to put her profession in parentheses? Like you don’t know who she is.” 

“Give it here!” He holds the phone over his head and tilts his head up to read it. Damn her average height. 

“It reads..woah it’s long.. ‘hey Lena, it’s Kara (obviously haha). I just want to apologize again for last night. It was completely rude of me to presume that there was anything going on between us and to kiss you without asking first is inexcusable. If you could ever forgive me, I would love to ask you out for real, with your knowledge lol. If that is not something you’re comfortable with, then I hope you can still consider me a friend. No pressure lmao .” 

Lena has stopped trying to get the phone from Jack and instead stands there, transfixed. She still wants to go out with her? Even after Lena’s response (or lack thereof). She closes her eyes, why the hell would someone this nice want to date her? It’s too good to be true. She opens them slowly, staring at Jack, who is meet her gaze intently. She can see the wheels turning in his head and she knows he is coming to the same conclusion. 

“For someone who texts so formally she sure seems to use a lot of acronyms.” He says, trying to keep his tone light but his concern is carefully hidden underneath. “Are you going to respond?” 

“Not yet.” She stares at her white wall for a moment. The same thought pounding within. 

It’s too good to be true. It’s too good to be true. It’s too good to be true.

“When did you meet her again?” 

“Last week.” 

He places her phone on the counter and gazes it, also lost in thought, before finally looking at her with a calculating expression. “You know what I’m thinking.” 

“I know.” Her response is quiet, withdrawn. Of course she knows what he’s thinking, she’s had to deal with it for her entire life. “She doesn’t seem like the type though.”

“Even if she’s not trying to set you up, your mother could be or hell even Lex. Right now is just not the time to be getting into anything. Your mother is looking for any excuse to-“ 

“I know.” Lena meets his gaze and if he notices the unshed tears he doesn’t comment on it. “I know, Jack. LuthorCorp comes first, you know that better than anyone.” 

He winces and she feels sorry for a brief second before a smile graces his face once again. Lena can see the hurt he’s hiding behind his eyes and she shoves down any guilt she may feel. If their friendship can last that then it can last a jab from Lena. 

Jack throws an arm around her shoulder and pulls her in for a kiss on her temple. “Let’s get breakfast, shall we?” 

Lena sighs. “Yeah, why not. I can call Jess and clear my meetings for the day. Show you around National City.” 

“You’re acting like Spheerical Industries doesn’t have a branch here. I come here all the time.” 

“Ah, but now that I’m a local I’ve found out all the good places that your five-star hotel concierges are not recommending you.” She grins, pushing away any feelings of sadness that lingers from hearing Kara’s text. 

She grabs her phone and shoves it in her purse. Lena knows she’ll have to respond eventually, but for now she just really wants to get breakfast with her best friend and try to make up for what a shit she has been the entire morning. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

“I just had to fire one of my directors of Digital Marketing. He tried to start a campaign around the empowerment of men in tech. Can you fucking believe that? He was dead serious too, everyone was gobsmacked,” Jack gestures with his hands passionately. They’re at a small diner in the heart of National City. It’s quaint and heavily decorated with knickknacks. It also has the best omelets in the entire city, which are Jack’s favorite. 

Lena laughs in delight and takes a sip of her coffee. It’s nothing compared to the brew Jack brought this morning, but when your caffeine addiction calls…

Lena feels a buzz against her pocket and takes it out hesitantly, but luckily it’s a text from Jess with her adjusted agenda for tomorrow. She is texting back an affirmative and a thanks, wishing her a good day off, when Jack nudges her with her foot. 

“Someone has been sneaking peeks at us for like five minutes. Table to our southwest,” Jack whispers. 

Lena takes a subtle glance at the table a couple rows behind and her entire body stiffens. Kara is seated at the table talking with James. Instead of wearing her usual collared shirt, she’s sporting a blue sweater that brings out the blonde in her hair. She looks adorable. As if sensing Lena’s gaze, her eyes flick over and connects with the brunette’s. Kara’s eyes widen in shock and she looks guilty, like she was caught doing something she shouldn’t be doing, her face flushing. 

Lena raises her hand in an awkward wave and Kara hesitantly returns it. 

Turning back to Jack who is flickering his gaze between the two, she explains, “That’s Kara Danvers.” 

His jaw drops, “No fucking way.” He looks back over to the blonde and Lena kicks him in the shin. “She’s hot in an adorable way. She’s also coming over right now so be cool.” 

“Oh my god,” Lena has the chance to mutter before Kara is standing in front of the table with a smiling James in tow. 

“Hey!” Kara says, a little too loud and she immediately blushes and adjusts her glasses nervously upon hearing the volume of her own voice. 

“Kara, hi. And James! Great to see you.” Lena debates getting up for a brief second, but ultimately doesn’t trust the strength of her knees at this point. 

“Lena, fantastic to see you. You a big of a fan of this joint as we are?” James says, gesturing around to the shabby diner. 

“Best omelet’s in town.” She replies with a nervous grin. She glances at Jack who is smirking at the duo and Lena wishes she could kick him again without drawing the attention of Kara. 

There is a brief pause and Lena notices Kara and James looking at Jack expectantly.

“Oh, sorry!” Lena exclaims, “This is Jack Spheer, an old friend.” 

“Best friend actually, practically soul mates.” He shoots a grin at the two reporters and sticks out his hand. 

Kara takes it and Lena notices Jack wince just a little, causing Kara to grin. He lets go and offers it to James who shakes it with a smile. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Jack, I’m familiar with your work.” James says, polite as always. 

Jack beams, “Thank you, I’m familiar with yours, James Olsen isn’t it? I saw you at the Pulitzer ceremony a couple of years back.” 

James laughs, “Yeah, that was a fun night.” Lena tries to catch Kara’s eyes who seem to be staring at Lena and Jack with an unreadable expression. 

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Lena asks Kara, who snaps her gaze back to Lena. 

“We’re working on a lead,” Kara replies with a conspiratorial grin. “The lead just happens to be taking us to breakfast.” 

Lena laughs warmly and Kara’s smile grows a little more genuine. There’s a moment where they just stare at each other before Jack clears his throat and draws Lena’s attention. 

Lena glances at him and nods. “Right, well I hope you guys have a great rest of the day, I’ll be stuck showing Jack around National City.” 

Jack smirks. “Like you don’t miss me.” 

Kara stares at Jack before turning to Lena with a soft smile, her brow a little furrowed. “It was great meeting you, Jack, I’ll talk to you later, right Lena?” 

“I’ll call you. I promise,” Kara looks into her eyes and whatever she sees must calm her because her shoulders relax and she nods with a grin. 

James waves his hand, already turning to leave. “Great seeing you guys, have a good one!” 

“Bye Lena,” Kara says, before following James out of the diner. 

Lena immediately turns to Jack and leans over to punch him. 

“Ow!” He rubs his arm and pouts. “What was that for?” 

“You know what! You were trying to make her jealous.” 

“Oh so what.” Jack smirks. “I’m helping you out, really, you should have seen the glares she was giving me.” 

It’s silent as Lena glares at him, before her expression melts into something a little more vulnerable. 

She glances at the door Kara just walked out of. “What did you think?” 

Jack’s smirk drops and he looks at her seriously. “I don’t know. She seems genuine, but…” 

“But…” 

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Even if she’s genuine, it doesn’t change anything. Look Lena, I want you to be happy, I truly do and maybe you can find it with her, but now isn’t the right time.” 

Lena lets out a deep breath and rubs her forehead, suddenly exhausted. “The Luthor name never fails me.” 

Jack takes one of her hands softly, rubbing the back of it with his thumb. She looks at him, she knows she looks wilted and exhausted, and he twists his mouth in sympathy. 

“One day, when you’re the permanent CEO of LuthorCorp and your mom can never touch you again, you’re going to find love and you’re going to be so happy, Lena.” He says it so earnestly that a part of Lena wants to believe him, despite how fictional it sounds to her now. 

 

By the time she drops Jack off at his hotel with a kiss on the cheek and the promise to see him again soon, she has made up her mind to talk to Kara. 

“Ms. Danvers apartment, please,” she says to her driver who nods and pulls into traffic. She could be worried that he automatically knows where she lives, but Lena suppose it is his job. 

She’s staring at the passing city lights when she feels her phone buzz with an incoming call. Pulling it out of her purse, she grimaces at the name that pops up. 

Pressing the green button, she holds the phone to her ear, “Hello, Mother, what a pleasant surprise.” 

“Lena,” Her mother states, voice already dripping with the tone of disappointment. “I’m calling to congratulate you on your article in CatCo, it was good press for LuthorCorp. I’ve been receiving calls about it from the shareholders all day.” 

Lena doesn’t hide the pleased smirk, despite the nagging feeling that this praise is coming off too sweet. “Have you? That is fantastic to hear, I’m glad I’m succeeding in proving to them that I’m a capable CEO.” 

Her mother makes a noise. “Yes, well we still have our concerns of course. A good image is one matter, but the board only cares about one thing: money. They’ve decided that if the stocks don’t increase by 30%, they’ll pass the reigns off to someone with a little more experience in the finance side of things.” 

She grits her teeth. “Someone like you, I assume.” 

“Well if that is what the board deems appropriate, then I can’t disagree.” Even through the phone Lena can see the condescending expression her mother must be wearing. She grips the phone tighter. 

“Thank you for the call, mother, it was great to hear from you. I’ll be sure to keep your sentiments in mind when planning out this quarter.” 

She’s about to hang up when her mother cuts through, “One more thing Lena. With the high standards the board is putting on you, I’d advise you to stay out of the press these upcoming months. Any unwanted attention to the company and I fear you may not reach that 30% stock boost the board so desperately wants.” 

“Thanks, mother, I’ll keep that in mind.” 

“Good luck then, Lena.” Lillian hangs up without another word, no goodbye (no I love you), but Lena has been used to that for a while. Luthor’s don’t follow the polite customs of phone etiquette. 

Lena throws her phone back in her purse and leans against her seat in frustration. It’s like her mother has a sixth sense to when Lena is vulnerable; able to sniff it out all the way from her penthouse. 

“Still to Ms. Danvers, Miss Luthor?” Her driver asks, peering at her from the front. 

She sighs and nods, watching him pull out back into traffic. Her mother has ruined her mood and as much as she worries she will take it out on Kara, she knows that this is a conversation they have to have. 

Lena sits back and waits as the car moves to the apartment that she is both desperately excited and terrified to go to. 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Lena has been looking at the apartment door for six minutes. 

Six minutes she has been watching it, petrified. She knows she is being ridiculous, that Kara wants to see her, but there is a part of her that still can’t believe that someone like Kara Danvers wants to be in her life. Maybe this will never go away, maybe she’ll be stuck out here like a loser for the rest of her existence. 

Deciding that she needs to get this over with, Lena pushes off the wall she’s been leaning on and knocks on the door quickly before she can change her mind. 

A few seconds pass before the door whips open and Alex Danvers stands there staring at her with barely concealed distaste. Lena looks past her automatically and notices that Kara is nowhere to be seen in the apartment. Did she miss her? 

“Luthor, what are you doing here?” 

Do not gulp, you are the CEO of a billionaire company and have dealt with worse people than Alex Danvers.

She pastes on her most professional smile and replies, “I’m here to see Kara.” 

Alex narrows her eyes. “About what?” 

Thrown off, Lena hesitates. “Um-well,-“

She doesn’t have the chance to respond before movement behind Alex’s shoulder draws her attention and Lena see’s Kara exit her bedroom dressed down in sweats and a t-shirt. The blonde notices Lena immediately and her eyes widen, her movements slowing down momentarily before speeding up in a panicked shuffle. 

“Lena!” Kara exclaims, standing next to Alex and nudging her subtly out of the way. “What are you doing here?” 

“I was hoping we could talk,” She replies, glancing at Alex nervously. 

Kara fixes her glasses and nods. “Of course, Alex was just leaving actually.” 

“Was I?” the sister says, lazily. “I thought we were going to watch a movie, but I must be mistaken.” 

“Alex.”

“I can go if you have other plans,” Lena says, looking between Alex and Kara awkwardly who are staring each other down. 

“No, she was leaving.” Kara replies, glaring. 

Whatever Kara must have said with her eyes worked because Alex sighs and heads back into the apartment to grab her jacket.

She brushes past Lena with cold eyes and a, “Later, Luthor,” and Lena can’t help but wince at being called her last name. 

Kara must have noticed because she frowns. “Sorry about Alex, she can be a bit protective sometimes.” 

“It’s no worries, I remember how Lex used to be.” Lena bites her lip and curses herself for bringing up her brother. So not the moment to delve into that pit of memories. 

Kara smiles hesitantly, shuffling about on her feet. “Do you want to sit down?” 

Lena smiles, grateful, and nods, following Kara into the brightly lit and beautifully warm apartment. 

“I never got a chance to say how much I love your apartment.” 

Kara looks at her in surprise. “This apartment? No, I mean, you probably have seen loads better, this is like nothing.” She sits down on the couch and takes a pillow to put on her lap, looking at Lena with wide and nervous eyes. 

Lena laughs. “It’s amazing. I love how it’s decorated, my interior designer wanted to go with a minimalist approach. So it’s basically just cold and bare. Nothing like this.” 

Kara smiles, looking around the apartment like she’s seeing it for the first time. “Thanks,” she says softly. 

Her gaze returns to Lena and the brunette notices that it’s a little expectant, if not patient. 

“I’m sorry about Jack at breakfast, he can be a bit of an asshole.” Lena finally says, which is clearly not what Kara wants to hear but she chuckles anyways. 

“Yeah, how do you know him again?” 

“An old friend when I was in Metropolis. We were science buddies.” She answers with a fond smile, for a moment lost in memories of formulas and laughs and creating something good with the person she loved most in the world. 

She snaps out of it to find Kara looking at her with a furrowed brow. “I got nervous this morning, seeing you at breakfast. I saw you on your phone with this guy and I.. I thought you were ignoring me. I thought I ruined things.” 

“I wasn’t ignoring you, I promise. I just needed to think.” 

Kara gaze is understanding and a little panicked as she says, “I’m sorry again, I know it was totally rude of me and also unprofessional and I completely understand if you want nothing to do with me. I mean you’re Lena Luthor and you could have anyone and I should have never presumed you’d be interested in someone like me. I mean I don’t even know if you’re into women and oh geez-“ 

Lena laughs, reaching out to take Kara’s hands away from where she has grasped her head in embarrassment. She holds them gently and smiles at Kara with a fond expression.

It seems all the thoughts Lena has been having about Kara has been going through the blonde girl’s head as well. 

“I wasn’t offended. At all, believe me,” She says, noticing the hopeful expression Kara adopts at these words. “But I have to be honest.” 

Kara’s face drops and she looks crushed before schooling her features into a neutral expression. Lena’s heart clenches and she wants to take it back and explain that she’s in, that she’s all in if Kara would have her, but then Lena remembers her mother and Jack and the company and the fact that despite Kara offering her the promise of something good she can’t accept it. 

Even if there wasn’t the company or Lillian or Lex, there was still Lena. Lena who had her heart in a vault for so long she doesn’t even know if she remembers how to reach it. Lena who is antithesis of everything Kara is and strives to be. Kara deserves someone who can hold her hand at the diner they both love without worrying about bad press and shareholders. 

Kara deserves more than what Lena can offer. 

“I’m at this point in LuthorCorp,” Lena says, not knowing how to start, “Where one wrong move can ruin my chance at being permanent CEO. One bad press story and I’ll be out of the company and Lillian Luthor takes over who is…not the best person.” 

Kara nods slowly. “And I would be..a bad move?” 

“No! I mean, it would be dangerous. For you. And for me. I am at this stage of my life where everything is uncertain and I have to be so careful. It wouldn’t be fair to you to throw you into this.” 

“I wouldn’t mind.” 

Lena runs her hand through her hair in frustration at herself; she is not explaining this right. “I just can’t be seeing anyone right now, I’m sorry.” 

Kara leans back against the couch and clutches her pillow tighter against her. “I understand.” 

“But Kara,” Kara glances up and her eyes connect with Lena. “I would love nothing more than to continue to be your friend, if you’d still have me.” 

Kara looks at her for a moment, watching Lena squirm and her gaze flick about the apartment, before she smiles. “Of course Lena, I would love to be your friend.” 

Lena beams and her entire body relaxes against the couch. Her muscles loosen and for the first time all day her body doesn’t feel as if it’s tightening and tightening in stress. 

“So what do you normally do with your friends?” Lena asks, glancing at Kara who is looking back with a smile of her own. 

She laughs, “How about wine and a movie?”

“Sounds lovely. Do you have a Malbec?” 

Kara pauses getting up, her face scrunching in confusion in the most adorable way. “I have a red? I don’t know if it’s a Malbec.” 

“I’ll take whatever you have. You should come with me to a wine tasting one day though, I know a great sommelier who does a private event once a month with some of the best bottles in existence. You would love it.” Her words are rushed together, mostly in relief that Lena can continue to converse this normally with the blonde. 

Kara laughs as she looks through her kitchen, peering back at Lena with a fond expression. “Sure, sounds fun.” 

Lena nods in acceptance and watches Kara look around for the bottle and wine glasses. The conversation went about as well as she could hope and she still got to keep Kara in her life. 

And you never know, she thinks as Kara pops open the bottle with an excited yelp, maybe you can ask her out yourself after the quarter is up. 

Her smile grows when Kara passes her a glass with an open expression of happiness, Yeah, I think I’d quite like that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always constructive criticism is appreciated! I'm not the strongest writer and any words of wisdom about plot, structure, or writing in general is welcomed. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter and understand why Lena had to reject Kara. It's not over yet though! And also if they got together too soon the drama wouldn't be as good right?

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr at fow-les.tumblr.com if you want to chat with me about anything! 
> 
> thanks for reading guys!


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